Callum Hudson-Odoi slams social media companies for monkey emoji
Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi has come down hard on the social media companies in reaction to racial abuse directed at several Premier League players in recent weeks. (h/t Daily Mail)
Man United stars Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford, as well as Romaine Sawyers and Alexandre Jankewitz, reported racial abuse on Twitter last week. The players received tweets with monkey emojis attached to them, prompting their respective clubs to flag those messages.
However, they were left stunned when it was revealed that the social media powerhouse didn’t consider the usage of monkey emoji as a violation of policy with racist connotations. And Hudson-Odoi has vented his anger, calling for necessary action to be taken.
“How can that make sense? If somebody puts, for example, a monkey emoji towards a player – why is that? How is a player a monkey? What does that mean to a player?
“So for us seeing stuff like that it always makes us angry. Are you saying that because of our skin colour? Because of the colour that we are? Or are you just saying that because you just want to be, you think that you’re funny or you want to get a laugh out of people?
This isn’t the first time Hudson-Odoi has spoken publicly about the need to eradicate racism from the beautiful game. Back in 2019, the Chelsea winger was vocal in his protests (h/t Guardian) after being subjected to money chanting from the crowd while playing for England against Montenegro.
“No one laughs at that sort of situation. All of us take that personally as a team and as players. We have to do something about it. Because obviously, as I said, racism won’t stop.”
Other Chelsea players have also been the victim of abuse in recent times as the dark cloud of racism continues to endanger the integrity of football.
Last season, Tammy Abraham revealed how his mother was down to tears after he suffered racial abuse on social media for missing a penalty in the UEFA Super Cup final.